Nintendo President Satoru Iwata used a direct-to-consumer Web video presentation today to talk about the company's near-future plans for the Wii U. While the presentation included many new details about the system's upcoming features and games, not many of those announcements could be considered very surprising.

On the features front, Iwata promised that the Wii U would be getting two new system updates in the spring and summer. These updates will include improvements to the Wii U's software launch times and faster switching between system menus, Iwata said. Those have been major gripes for Wii U users so far, but our tests found the loading times were actually comparable to launch titles for other systems.

Nintendo will also be bringing some important updates to the surprisingly robust and interesting Miiverse social networking service. These new features include a browser-based mobile interface, user-created community discussion threads, and a more-robust message filtering system, all of which should help make the service even more useful.

The spring update will bring the Wii U's incarnation of the Virtual Console, allowing players to download classic games for play on the Wii U. The lineup will include selected games from the NES and SNES libraries to start, but Game Boy Advance titles are planned for the future.

The Wii U Virtual Console will be similar to the feature of the original Wii, but with the added ability to play titles on the Wii U GamePad, even while the TV is being used for something else. Wii U Virtual Console games will be able to connect to Miiverse for discussions with other players. While players won't be able to use these features on Virtual Console games downloaded for the original Wii, they will be able to upgrade those previously purchased titles with the new Wii U features for $1 (for NES games) and $1.50 (for SNES games).

To increase interest in the Wii U's new Virtual Console, Nintendo is offering what it calls a "trial campaign" of downloadable classics available at a special price of 30 cents for a limited 30-day time period. Balloon Fight, the first "trial" game, is available right now, ahead of the Virtual Console's official release, and there will be one new title offered at the promotional price every month:

February: F-Zero

March: Punch Out

April: Kirby's Adventure

May: Super Metroid

June: Yoshi

July: Donkey Kong

New games from old franchises

The Wii U software lineup hasn't exactly been inspiring in the new year, and Iwata offered a direct apology to players for the lack of Nintendo-published games in January and February. He promised that the flow of titles would be steadier from March onward.

As for new game announcements, Nintendo is once again dipping into its deep stable of established franchises to fill up the software shelves. The team that worked on the Super Mario Galaxy games and Super Mario 3D Land is developing a new Mario title for the Wii U, and there's also a Wii U Mario Kart in development, which should not surprise anyone who has ever owned a Nintendo system. Both games will be playable at June's E3 expo, Iwata said.

The team that made the ultra-cute Kirby's Epic Yarn will be taking the same art style to Mario's dinosaur pal Yoshi for a side-scrolling platform game as well, under the leadership of Yoshi's Island director Takashi Tezuka. Iwata also said that work continues on the previously announced Wii U Smash Bros. game and that visuals from the title would be ready to show by E3 in June.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a Nintendo system without a new Zelda game. Series director Eiji Aounuma announced that a new Wii U Zelda project was still very early in development, but that the game was aiming to "rethink the conventions of Zelda." That means throwing out the idea that dungeons have to be competed in a certain order or that you should play a core Zelda game by yourself.

Aounuma warned that the new Zelda "will take some time" to see release. In the meantime, the team is working on an HD remake of the polarizing Gamecube title The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Besides upgraded graphics (that make characters look a bit like porcelain dolls under the Wii U's new engine), the new version will "tune up the overall game experience" and include Wii U-specific functions like Miiverse.

Outside of Nintendo's storied franchises, the company used the video presentation to announce new third-party Wii U titles in the Shin Megami Tensei and Xenosaga series. There was also new footage of Platinum Games' superhero action title The Wonderful 101 and the Wii U-exclusive Bayonetta 2, both of which should see release in the coming months.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in Pittsburgh, PA.